Alcatel-Lucent to cut more jobs after quarterly loss
London: The world's largest telecommunications-equipment maker, Alcatel-Lucent has announced it will cut an additional 3,500 jobs, taking the total to 12,500, after a fourth-quarter loss. Further it has forecast a drop in first-quarter sales.

The company had originally said it would cut 9,000 jobs over three years.

Goldman Sachs said the move increased its confidence that the company has greater restructuring potential than some investors believe.

The group also said it expects some decline in revenue in the first quarter but said revenue would grow by at least 5 pc for the year.
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US Malaysia free trade talks hit dead end
Free trade talks between Malaysia and the US hit a dead end on Friday as the former refused to make any concessions on its procurement policy that favors ethnic Malay-owned companies and other sensitive issues.

Barbara Weisel, the top American official leading a fifth round of negotiations, said it would be very difficult to conclude talks within the deadline that has been set because of Malaysia's position on sensitive issues.

Weisel said the two sides have not scheduled a next round of talks, although she anticipated further dialogues in coming weeks. Officials would have to consult their governments on the next step to take, she said.

The key obstacle to the talks is Malaysia's affirmative action program that awards government tenders to Malay-owned companies to give them an advantage to compete with the wealthier minority Chinese.

While some government contracts are open to bids from foreign firms, Washington wants more clarity and transparency in the bidding process.

Malaysia is the United States' 10th-largest trading partner, with US$44 billion (euro35 billion) in two-way trade in 2005. Officials say that figure will double by 2010 if the pact is signed.
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Honda to recall 45,000 Civic Hybrid sedans
Honda Motor Co. plans to recall 45,335 Civic Hybrid sedans all over the world to repair an electrical defect that could bring the cars' engines to a halt.

Honda plans to recall 7,219 of the vehicles sold in Japan and another 38,116 sold overseas, mostly in the US," a Honda spokeswoman said.

Honda has however received no reports of accidents related to the defect. The affected vehicles were manufactured between September 2005 and September 2006.
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